A Day in the Life
by JealousofBrennan
Summary: A skeleton that was dug up, a kidnapped family, and B&B on the case and in each other's dreams . Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Good To Be Back

**Chapter One – Good To Be Back**

"Another round?"

Temperance shook her head. "I've had enough." She was feeling slightly light-headed and very warm. Booth was very appealing tonight. The dim light behind the bar gave his face a warm glow. Even through the din of the crowd yelling at the television, it felt like it was just the two of them. She mentally shook her head.

"Hmm, sorry, what did you say?" Temperance watched Booth's full lips as he said "Do you need a lift home?"

"No." she paused, "no, thanks. I'll take a cab. It's late, you'll want to go home and get some sleep."

Booth hid his disappointment well. Spending time with Bones was ..., but spending time without her was agonizing. Her arms were bare tonight in the blouse she was wearing and her skin looked inviting. His gaze wandered along the length of her arm to her narrow waist. He forced his eyes to stop and looked into his empty glass instead. That kind of thinking meant sleepless nights.

The night had been full of stress and emotion. Bones had just returned from France after promoting her current book. Now, she had a full schedule back in the States with the book and her work at the Jeffersonian. Booth had stopped at the book signing to give Bones a hard time. It was the first time he'd seen her in two weeks. When she smiled at him, he felt his breath catch in his chest and couldn't help but smile back.

He always enjoyed teasing her in front of her fans. And fans there had been. It was one of the largest crowds he had seen at a book signing. The agent reflex in him looked around the room at the security. He hated these places. Someone could hide too easily, blend in too easily. Bones' agent, Tilly, said the point was for the public to meet the author and gave him grief over wanting to check over the security protocol. Bones told him she'd be fine. He checked anyway.

Standing in the center, he counted the uniformed security. One, two, three points covered. Where's the fourth? 'We're in the center of one of the largest book stores in DC, with three hundred people and the fourth's missing. Where the hell is he?' Booth thought angrily.

Booth moved slowly and casually, his eyes scanning looking for the man. Sure enough, behind the raised platform where Bones was signing, the door to the hallway that lead to the staff room was open slightly. The Fourth's arm was twisted around and he was pinned to the wall behind the door by some idiot with a knife. Instinct took over as Booth placed his gun to his temple. "Drop it and let him go." he said icily. Booth's suspicion that this guy was an idiot was confirmed when he turned quickly to try to cut him with the knife. Booth's left arm deflected the blow while the arm holding the gun moved quickly. His elbow collided with Idiot's nose and upper lip. Idiot dropped the knife and before he knew what hit him, Booth had him pinned on the floor with his arm behind him. The roaring in his ears stopped abruptly when he realized he popped out Idiot's shoulder when twisting his arm. It was then he yelled at the fourth, "Do your fucking job!" The Fourth jumped and grabbed the radio from his belt to call the local detachment.

Later outside, with Idiot securely in the back of a cruiser, Booth started to breath normally again. It wasn't until the local officer told him that Idiot was trying to rob the store, not hurt Brennan, that the ball of ice that formed in Booth's belly began to melt. He watched the Fourth give his statement to the police. Booth didn't realize he was growling until Bones came up to him. "I'm all done in there, wanna go for a drink?"

The sky was clear and the moon was bright as the cab pulled up outside the bar. The change in temperature from the bar made her shiver.

"Thanks for the drink. See you tomorrow?" Bones tried to not to sound so hopeful. Booth reached in front of her and opened the car's door. For a moment Temperance felt the warmth of his body warm her. She could also smell him and it sent her head reeling. Cautiously she took a half step backward, inhaling at the same time.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. It's good to have you home, Bones."

"It's good to be home Booth. Night". Temperance got in the cab and Booth shut the door. After telling the driver the address, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. 'This is ridiculous' she thought. 'I'm acting like I'm in high school'. Temperance was cross with herself, although she couldn't pin point exactly why and that frustrated her even more.

In France there were many dinner invitations and many advances by attractive and powerful men, but outside of the business of promoting the new book, she stayed in her hotel alone. That didn't mean it was peaceful though. Her thoughts continued to focus on her partner. She found herself mentally examining his face, his voice and his smell in her head.

The cab pulled up to her building. She paid the fee, tipped generously and walked slowly to her door. Taking one more breath of the cool, clear air, let herself in.

Temperance tossed her keys in the bowl on the hall table and took off her coat. She stretched, savouring the warm feeling that was still slowly running through her body. She looked at herself in the hall mirror. She knew that she was attractive and pulled the clip that was holding her hair up. She played with her hair while tilting her face to look at it from different angles. Feeling self-conscience and slightly ridiculous, smiled to herself and said "Time for bed, Tempe".


	2. Chapter 2: The Morning After

**Chapter Two – The Morning After**

The bed was cold. No matter which way Booth lay, he couldn't get comfortable. 'Damn.' he thought as he got up. The clock read 4:22. He thought he would sleep better when she got home, but it was wasn't. While she was away, he imagined a thousand times that she wouldn't return and that he would have to have a life without her. But she did come back, and yet, he could only have a part of her and he wasn't sure what hurt worse.

Booth got dressed and flipped through the channels on the television while he drank orange juice. His mood grew darker as lack of sleep was taking it's toll. He slammed his glass on the counter and started to think about everything he had to do at work. Paperwork, calls, more paperwork, more calls. He sighed and decided it wasn't too early to go to work. He took his cell phone off it's charger, grabbed his coat, and opened the door. And there she was.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I brought coffee. Ready to go?" Booth looked shocked she was standing there. Truthfully, she didn't really know why she was standing there. Sleep had come fitfully and she gave up at 4:00. Bones mind had already made a list of what needed to be done on the outstanding cases and she convinced herself that Booth could help.

They took Booth's truck to the Jeffersonian. He hardly spoke. Bones looked out the window at the familiar landscape in the dawn light. She began to think about the wisdom of showing up at Booth's house as the tension in the truck increased.

Besides the security guard at the main doors of the lab, they didn't see anyone on their way to Bones' office. After unlocking and opening the door, they entered the room part way. In the darkness, they both reached for the light switch on the wall at the same time. The dry air and the carpeted hall created enough environment to create a small shock as their hands touched. Bones who was in the door first, jerked her hand back, spilling the last inch of her coffee on the carpet and bringing her elbow into Booth's gut.

Booth bent over and said "Gees, Bones!" Their eyes met, they smiled and then they laughed together. The tension of the morning gone and their easy manners returned, Bones said "Let's get to work, shall we?"

They spent the morning together tying up the lose ends on the cases they had finished in the last month before she went to France. Court dates were set for three of them and the rest had the required forms filled out, ready to be sent back to the FBI Legal Department with Booth.

By eleven, Booth left to go to his own office to work on the phone calls and paperwork he had.

"So, Sweetie. Tell me all about it." Angela asked as she poked her head around the corner of the door.

"Tell you about what?" asked Brennan in her typical blank way.

"Come on! You and Booth come in here together, early in the morning, carrying coffee from the same shop, hardly speaking to each other.... Did you finally... you know?" Angela's voice got quieter as she was digging for juicy information.

"How do you know?" exclaimed Brennan. Angela's jaw dropped and Brennan quickly realized that Angela was referring to her and Booth sleeping together. To clarify, Brennan hissed quietly "We didn't sleep together if that's what you are referring to. I meant how did you know we came in early together?"

Angela waved her hand and shook her head, "The guy who was working the door this morning is trying to get into my pants. Especially since Roxie has started to come by at lunch. He was hoping that tidbit of information would get him a spot on the team."

"What team?" asked Brennan.

Angela looked at her best friend and once again thought '_and they call her a genious_?'

"Don't worry about it Sweetie". Angela blew her friend a kiss and walked out of the office.


	3. Chapter 3: Misunderstanding

**Chapter Three**

Booth looked at his call display and saw that it was Rebecca calling.

"Hi Rebecca, what's up?" he said into his phone. On the other end, he listened to Rebecca remind him that he had Parker for the week because she was going out of town. As if he'd forget. "Patty knows to get him from school and bring him to your house." Patty was Parker's nanny and she was terrific with him. Rebecca ran over a list of items regarding Parker and his pick up times to and from school and other things as Booth repeated "I know Rebecca." every few minutes into the phone. He knew Rebecca meant well, but it irked him that she felt she had to remind him of everything on the phone and still include a note in Parker's bag.

"Rebecca, I got it. Thanks for arranging it all. Have a great trip."

Booth took a deep breath, looked at his paperwork and his watch. He wondered why paperwork made the clock seem to move more slowly.

The team didn't have any new cases. After the paperwork with Booth and checking in with Cam, Bones had lost herself in Limbo, the room where unidentified remains were stored. She looked up from the lighted table and stretched. Six o'clock. She finished dictating into the recorder "Box 4657, female, age 25-40, Caucasian..."

After clearing the table and organizing her notes, Temperance noticed she was hungry and remembered that she skipped lunch.

She remembered that her car was still at Booth's house from her impromptu stop this morning. She smiled at the memory of the shock when their hands touched earlier. Brennan picked up her phone to call him. The phone rang and his voice mailbox picked up. Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan called a taxi from her office phone and put on her coat.

As the taxi pulled up to Booth's house, Brennan noticed the lights were on. She went to the door and rang the bell. It was unusual that Booth didn't answer his phone.

The blond who opened the door was beautiful. Temperance's chest constricted and she stuttered. "I, um, I am here for my car, um, please tell Booth." She quickly turned and walked to her car that was parked on the street. Temperance fumbled her keys and dropped them. It wasn't often that Temperance felt jealous, but the thought that Booth wasn't sleeping alone hurt her.

After Temperance got home, she poured herself some wine and started running the water for a bath. She walked around her home, touching artifacts and moving items around, feeling incredibly lonely. By the time she got undressed for the bath, she was feeling sorry for herself.

The tirade of thoughts kept parading through her head. _Why didn't he tell me? Who is she? How long have they been together? How could I have let myself get so emotional over him?_

After sinking into the tub, her mind began to clear. She knew that Booth wasn't going to make any advances on her. They were partners and it would ruin the friendship they shared. Besides Angela, theirs was only relationship where she felt completely safe. Yes, Temperance Brennan knew it was time to give up any romantic thoughts on Seeley Booth.

Booth balanced bags of take out while unlocking his door. Patty and Parker where sitting on the couch reading a book. Parker thundered toward his dad and hugged him around his waist, Booth said warmly, with a pride he didn't hide, "Hi Sport!"

"Who's hungry?" Booth said as he put down the food and then picked up Parker in a big bear hug. Patty went to the door to grab her coat. "Wait" said Booth, "aren't you hungry? I got enough for all of us. That's if Parker leaves us any!" Booth playfully shoved Parker away from the bags that he was pawing through. "Get some plates and forks please Parker."

During dinner, Parker told all about his day at school. It wasn't until Parker said the doorbell rang earlier that Patty told Booth about the woman who came to the door who mentioned getting her car. "She looked distressed." It was then Booth remembered that he shut his phone off when he was meeting with the Legal Department to talk about his testimony in the next upcoming case. Reaching to his belt, he turned it back on.

Booth knew inviting Patty to stay for dinner was risky. He had noticed that her gaze lingered a little too long, that she touched his arm whenever she laughed or shared a story about Parker's afternoon with him. He didn't want to give her the wrong idea, the dinner invite was because it was late and he appreciated her getting Parker on such short notice. Surely Patty would realize that.

After she left, Booth tried calling Bones a couple of times, but there was no answer. Booth was torn. He found himself wondering if she was okay but couldn't leave Parker alone to go to her apartment. After Parker was in bed, Booth called again.

Temperance looked at her phone. She saw that it was Booth calling again. She was in the tub when he had called before and chose to ignore the phone while she enjoyed the warmth of the bath water melt away her tension..

"Booth?"

"Hey, you okay?" Booth said concerned.

"Um, yes. Don't you have company?" Booth picked up her icy tone. _'She's jealous!'_ Booth thought and tried not to let his smile show in his voice.

"No, Parker's in bed and his nanny has gone home for the night. She said you were upset. You sure everything's okay?"

"I was not upset. She only saw me for a minute, how could she make that kind of observation?" ranted Temperance. After a pause she realized part of what and Booth had said, "Oh, you have Parker tonight?" Bones seldom blushed, and she was glad that Booth wasn't there to see her blush tonight.

"Yes, all week. You still haven't answered my question."

"Booth, I'm fine. Thanks, see you tomorrow."

"Good night Bones" Booth went to his own bed smiling. The idea of Bones jealous made his heart skip a beat or two.

Brennan went to bed smiling. Between the happy feeling she had and the bottle of wine she consumed, Temperance slept through the night for the first time in many months.


	4. Chapter 4: The Bone in the Desk

**Chapter Four**

First it was her smile. Then her eyes. She was suddenly closer. Her lips started kissing him around his face. Her breath was hot in his ear as she nibbled his ear lobe. Moving around him she ran her hands over his shoulders and back, giving soft kisses along his hairline. When she came back in front of him his arms naturally went around her waist. He noticed they were both naked. God, her skin was soft! Her body was hot as he pulled it closer to him and his mouth met hers. One of them groaned, he was unsure who. One of his hands entangled itself in her hair while the other moved to her ...

"Dad?" came Parker's voice

Booth's eyes opened wide and he realized that he had better move to his side to avoid letting his son see the erection that had grown while he was dreaming.

"Hey Buddy" Booth answered in a gravelly morning voice. "What's up?"

"I'm hungry. Can I have some breakfast?"

"Sure, I'll get dressed and make you some. You go watch t.v. for a minute, 'kay?"

Parker turned and closed the door again. A second later Booth heard Spongebob Squarepants on the t.v. Booth flopped back against his pillow, inhaled and blew out a big breath from his mouth. 'That dream will have to wait for another time' he thought grimly. After regaining his composure, he dressed and went out to make Parker his breakfast.

After dropping Parker off at school, Booth continued on to his office. He was met by an intern carrying a box of files. "These are for you."

Booth relieved the young woman of the box and said questioningly "Okay. Why?"

"The Director wanted me to give them to you. He's waiting for you in your office."

Booth mentally thought of the surface of his desk and was desperately hoping that he had kept it somewhat clean.

"Sir." Booth said as he came in with the box and placed it carefully in the chair across from his desk. The Director was sitting in Booth's chair and was moving uncomfortably. "This chair sucks Agent Booth."

Booth didn't reply as he remembered the drama involved in getting the prestigious chair, that, as the Director put bluntly, sucked.

The Director, a man in his late 50's was not a large man but he did have an air of power. He was intelligent and Booth mentally compared him to the wick of an oil lamp. Depending on how far you turned the nob, the fire got larger. The Director knew exactly how and when to turn up the flame to get the results he wanted.

"You've probably already assumed there's a case Agent Booth." he said as he nodded toward the box that Booth had put in the chair. "In that box are the case files from a drug bust 12 years ago. The informant at the time was 18 years old. His information allowed us to go in under cover and break up one of the cities largest drug rings at the time. After the trial, we placed him in the witness protection program."

Booth nodded wondering where this was going.

"In the last dozen years, Mr. Shelton, as he goes by now, married and recently had a daughter. His wife had no idea of his past and from what we can tell, Mr. Shelton settled into regular life very well. Yesterday, we found out that Mr. Shelton, his wife and his daughter have all gone missing. There's a team at their house now going over everything. Agent Booth, I need you and Dr. Brennan to be involved in this case as well."

"Certainly Sir. Are you thinking this is a kidnapping? Or something..." Booth let the sentence trail slightly before the Director cut in. "There's been a bone found already. There's been no ransom demand, so whatever this is, it isn't going to be pretty."

The Director stood up, placed his hands behind him and arched his back. "Jesus Booth, get yourself a better chair." He walked past Booth and said "There's a baby involved Booth. I need you to work quickly."

Booth watched the Director leave and pulled out his phone to call Bones.

His truck pulled up to the small, quaint house on Maple Street at 11:30. Bones got out first and started towards it, not noticing all the neighbors watching with fascination at the FBI vehicles parked around. Booth noticed though and started memorizing faces. He thought 'this neighborhood is going to be changed forever'. Showing his badge to the officer at the door, he and Bones entered the home.

Bones walked around looking at pictures and at the placement of furniture. She noticed that Mrs. Shelton kept a very nice home. The mantel was full of pictures of a child, from birth to present. The most recent pictures showed a smiling, round faced 9 month old with a tooth in the center of her mouth and hugging a small teddy bear.

Booth talked to the officer in charge and learned that the place had been wiped clean of any prints or evidence. The only thing they found was in the desk. Once the Director told him that Booth and Dr. Brennan were on the case, they closed the door to the office to let them deal with it. Everyone knew how sensitive Dr. Brennan was about evidence being tampered with.

"You found a bone?" Booth asked the officer.

The officer raised his hands. "It's all in there, I'll leave it to you." he replied and walked away from Booth.

"Bones, over here." Booth motioned to his partner to follow him into the office. He told her how the place had been wiped clean and that the only evidence was in the desk. She walked around the room and pointed at a box on the floor beside the desk. "Looks like he just bought a new printer." Sure enough, on top of the desk beside the closed laptop was a printer with it's installation CD and cables still in their plastic bags sitting on top of it. Booth moved behind the desk and saw that the FBI team had left the bottom right drawer of the desk open. In it were neat file folders, all labeled in tidy printing. Hydro, Phone, Tax bills were all filed meticulously away. The file labeled "Owners Manuals" was wider than most and the manual for the new printer was pulled part way out.

"Booth, where's the evidence we are supposed to be looking for?"

"I think it's in here." Bones walked around him. With her gloved hands, she pulled out the printer manual. "It seems odd that he would have filed the manual without hooking up the printer yet."

"Well, you know Bones. Men don't always need instructions for things."

Bones looked up from the printer manual and rolled her eyes at Booth. She returned her gaze to the book as she started to flip through the pages. Half way through, a 4 x 6 photograph was placed in the book. Bones took it out and put a post it note from the pad on the desk in the book to mark the page.

The picture was very clearly a picture of a skeleton, laid out on the grass. On top of skeleton was a 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper. The typed message was in red and filled most of the page. It read: You Are Next. Bones flipped it over and taped to the back was a piece of bone. She quickly identified it as one of the phalanges, most likely from the fourth finger. She turned the picture back over and confirmed her observation. The baby finger from the left hand was missing.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sitter

**Chapter Five**

**Thank you for reading this story! This next chapter has a bit of fun by putting our favorite B&B in a home daycare setting. More sexual tension and crime development will come in chapter six - promise!**

"Do you really think you can tell who the body is from a picture?" They were back in the truck, driving to the home of the Shelton's babysitter, the last person who saw James Shelton, on Friday. Time was sensitive as it was now already Tuesday.

"We have the bone piece too. I can tell you it was a female, approximately 45 – 60 years of age when she died. I don't want to speculate any more until I get back to the lab."

Booth nodded. He knew Bones had more information but she wasn't ready to share it until she could prove it. His thoughts were interrupted by a low growl.

"Was that you?" he laughed.

Instinctively Bones put her hands on her stomach. "Sorry, I'm starving. Could we stop somewhere for something to eat before we get there?" Booth was already turning into the sub-division where the sitter lived.

"Umm, well the house is just up there but I can drive past and see if there's a restaurant."

"We won't be long, it's okay. But afterwards, we _have_ to go for lunch."

"Deal." said Booth

The white door on the bungalow had a "Welcome" wreath with little childlike angels in it. Booth rang the doorbell. Inside they heard a collection of young voices yell "Mary! Someone's here! Mary!" and what sounded like a herd of small elephants run to the door.

They could hear a woman's voice inside "Okay, okay. Jordan, come away from the door please. Liza, you too, please. I'll get it. Sammy, can you take Mr. Froggie back to the toy box?"

The door opened to show a woman wearing minimal make-up, short blond hair and a tired, but happy smile. The baby on her hip was sucking his thumb and used his spare hand to play with the simple chain at her neck.

"Hi. Can I help you?"

"Good afternoon. Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth flashed his badge. "I understand you are Mary Simmons. You babysat Kiersten Shelton?"

The smile faltered a bit and Mary's eyes looked sad. "Yes. Will you please come in?" The three other preschoolers who clamored around her were silent as they looked up at Booth. At 6'1 he was a regular giant to the children. Liza looked so far up, she almost fell backward. Mary laughed and caught her quickly. "C'mon sweetie. Let's go Lego." Liza smiled and ran ahead.

Mary led the way into the house towards the kitchen table. She motioned for Booth and Bones to sit as she grabbed a large container of blocks and set it on the floor by the table. Everyone circled around the container and started to either build or dump out the pieces. She put the baby in the high chair and offered her guests coffee.

"No thanks, we can see you are busy. We just want to ask you some questions about the Shelton family." Bones replied.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to grab one. I told the officer from yesterday what I knew. " she went to the pot on the counter and topped up the cup that was sitting beside it. Returning to the table to sit she said "I've looked after Kiersten since Jenny went back to work three months ago. James picked her up on Friday at 4:30, as usual and told me they'd see me Monday. Nothing out of the ordinary, except of course they didn't come yesterday."

As Mary spoke the last sentence, a wail came from the group on the floor. She quickly got up and went to the pile of blocks to settle a dispute about who could use the red ones. The baby then started to cry. Booth watched the woman get everyone resettled and pick up the baby to start rocking him. He noticed Bones shift uncomfortably.

"May I?" Booth said as he stood and motioned that he'd like to hold the drooling baby. Mary looked at him, deciding whether or not she should let him. Jordan decided that for her. "Mary, I have to pee!" She quickly handed Brandon, the baby, over and said excitedly "Okay Buddy! Let's go do pee!" She grabbed Jordan's hand and shouted over her shoulder "I'll be right back!"

Booth grinned at Bones. "What?" she asked, cautiously eying the drooling baby.

"Wanna hold him?" and he moved a little closer to her. Directing his next comments at the baby he asked "What about you little man? Do you want to go sit with the pretty lady? Hmmm?" the baby giggled as Booth tickled him.

_How's he do that?! He looks completely comfortable holding a strange baby!_

Booth moved to pass the baby on and heard "Lizaaaaa" come screeching from Sammy. At least, he thought it was Sammy. Booth was starting to get dizzy keeping track of them. Liza had her teeth firmly planted into the little boy's arm. Mary came running down the hall. "Liza, NO! We do not bite our friends." She pointed to the corner. "Over to the mat."

Bones watched as the little girl walked solemnly over to a small blue mat in the corner. She sat down and Mary set the timer for three minutes. The woman grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and picked up the still screaming Sammy. "I know, I know" she said as she rocked him and pressed the ice pack on. "Jordan, come out of the bathroom now honey! I'm sure your hands are clean!" she yelled down the hall. She looked at Bones and Booth apologetically and quipped "Honestly, it's not always like this. I'm convinced they wait until either the phone rings or company comes to be their noisiest!" The baby Booth was holding was starting to squirm and fuss.

"Oh, I think his diaper is full!" said Booth, his nose wrinkling at the incredible smell coming from the small child. Mary put down Sammy with a kiss on the boo-boo and moved to grab Brandon from Booth. "Thanks." She went to a shelf around the corner and grabbed a diaper and the wipes. She laid a towel on the floor. Brandon and Mary joined the towel on the floor and in a flurry of hands and who-knows-whatever-else, proceeded to change his smelly bottom. "What else did you want to know?"

Bones was speechless as she watched this woman handle all of this calmly. Booth followed Mary's lead and asked "Did you notice anything different about Mr. Shelton on Friday afternoon?"

"No. There was nothing out of the ordinary." Mary answered while wiping the baby's bottom.

Booth continued "How would you describe Mr. Shelton and his wife?"

"Well, they were fine. Very protective of Kiersten, but that's understandable being she's their first. When I interviewed them, James kept his arm around Jenny all the time. He didn't let either of his girls out of his sight."

"Interview?" said Bones

Mary looked at her from the floor. "Yeah, I interview the parents of the children who come here and we do a couple of trial play dates to see if they'll fit before we sign the contract."

Bones looked completely confused. "Dr. Brennan, this is my business. But because I run it out of my home and my own children are here," at this she nodded to Liza and Brandon, "I have to make sure that the families who I care for, you know, _fit_." The timer went off as Mary finished the diaper and put his pants back on him. She tossed the diaper in the garbage under the sink and quickly washed her hands. "Excuse me a second please."

Mary walked over to the blue mat and talked quietly with Liza. After a minute, Liza hugged Mary and walked over to Sammy and apologized.

"So, did the Shelton's _fit_?"

"Yes. They were great and Kiersten was an absolute doll. I really do hope they're okay." The concern in Mary's eyes was proof that she had cared deeply for Kiersten in the short time she had known her.

Booth rose from his chair. "I think that's it Mrs. Simmons. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day." They both shook her hand and Mary followed them to the door.

"Sure, if there's anything I can do, please let me know. Take care now." She closed the door. On the other side, Booth and Bones heard her say "Hey Guys! It's lunch time! Let's all go wash our hands!"

Bones sat in the truck and was silent.

"Earth to Bones. Earth to Bones."

"Hmm, sorry. What?"

"I asked if you were ready for lunch yet. You must be hungry now!"

"Oh yes, I am. Did you notice that she never touched her coffee?" Booth had noticed and now understood why her smile was, although genuine, was tired looking.

"Something up?"

"Booth, I'm a genius."

He answered slowly "Yes, you don't let me forget it."

"No, I mean, yes." Bones paused, collected her thoughts and started again. "Anthropologically speaking, in many societies, everyone in the community had a skill and they did what suited them best. It was the most efficient way for the community to survive. Occasionally though, someone had to fill in where there was a void, regardless of their strengths. I know that I'm in the career that I am best at. However, I do admit that I've often thought that I could do almost anything if I had the right training, resources, you know?"

Booth thought he knew where she was going with this but only responded "Oh?"

Bones paused and said "I couldn't do what she does."

Booth smiled, thought of Parker and said quietly "Not many can." He pulled the truck into the parking lot of the Family Diner on the corner of the subdivision and the main road.

"Hey Bones."

She looked at him and he found himself thinking about the dream he had earlier that day. Forcing himself to stop the memory he said "I'm glad you can't do what she does. Otherwise, we wouldn't be so great together."

Bones smiled. "Me too." The only sound in the truck was their soft breathing and they still hadn't broken their gaze. Booth started to lean a little closer to Bones and was happy that she didn't move away. Her stomach loudly protested the intimate moment however and Bones said "We have a deal, remember. It's lunch time."


	6. Chapter 6: In the Lab

**Chapter Six**:

**Author's note: I realize that some of the technical information below may be incorrect. Please roll with it though and enjoy the story. I also really appreciate your reviews!**

"Ange, do you have that loaded yet?" Temperance asked as she came through the door to Angela's office. She had given Angela the photo to load into the computer and called everyone in to look at the large screen.

"Yes, it's here."

Everyone crowded around Angela's computer. "What do you see?" Bones asked the group.

Clark was first "This skeleton appears to have been moved and reassembled by someone who's not familiar with skeletal structure."

"Why do draw that conclusion?"

"Some of the smaller bones are obviously in the wrong place and the spacing between the vertebrae" Clark pointed at a spot along the spine "and between the femur and knee cap are too close together." he said moving his finger lower down the picture. "As well, there appears to have been natural decomp. The bones have not been bleached." Tilting his head to one side and then the other. "And look here and here" he pointed at the elbow and then at the top of the skull. "there's still matter attached the to the bones. Without looking at the actual skeleton, I would assume this skeleton has been dead and buried at least 25 years."

"Good Mr. Clark. Anyone else?"

Hodgins was next "The grass is short. He would have had to move the body, take the picture and move it away from the site again before anyone who cuts the grass found it." He leaned in closer to the screen. "There seems to be some soil around the skeleton. Ange, could you forward that to my computer? I may be able to determine foot patterns in the grass if I blow up the image."

"Sure" A few quick key strokes sent it to Hodgins work station. Hodgins smiled at Ange and thanked her. He quickly left the room.

"Ange, do you think you can get anything from the picture or can you tell me anything about the note she's holding?"

"I haven't examined the picture fully yet but you'll be the first to know what I find. As far as the note, it looks like it was printed off a normal ink jet printer with about a 60-point size font."

"Good." She turned to the intern. "Mr. Clark, see if you can find any cemeteries that have reported any disturbed bodies."

With everyone working independently, Bones went to the lighted table to look at the bone fragment herself. Knowing the skeleton was female and between the ages of 45 and 60, buried 25 or more years ago, Bones examined the finger bone to see what else she could learn about the individual. There was pitting in the bone, which suggested the individual had the start of osteoporosis. She agreed with Clark that the body had most likely been buried 25 years ago. The bones, besides being removed from their grave, had not been tampered with otherwise. As she was making her notes, her cell phone started to vibrate. It was Booth.

"Hey. What have you found out?" Booth asked her. Bones filled him in.

"I've just come from Jenny Shelton's work. She was quiet and kept to herself. Many of her co-workers said that her husband and daughter were her whole life. She never went out with them after work for drinks. None of them had any reason to believe she would not report to work on Monday."

"What about James' work?"

"I haven't been there yet. I'm going to have to go tomorrow. I gotta get Parker. Call me with anything?"

"Yes. Talk to you later." Bones hung up and thought about what had happened earlier in the day. Admitting to Booth that she didn't think she could do Mary Simmons job didn't bother her. It was just a fact. And she processed it as she processed many facts. With objectivity. She didn't have faith the way that Booth did, but she conceded, that if she believed the way he did, that if there was a god with cosmic force, then there was probably a reason that the god gave her the skills she had and paired her with Booth. If she was a praying person, she would have been thankful to the god that put them together. They were after all, as Booth had said, 'great together.'

Booth walked to the school's main doors and saw Patty waiting there. He thought she was wearing more make up than she usually did. "Did you come for Parker?"

Patty was fidgeting and laughed nervously "I thought I would come and if you weren't on time, Parker and I could meet you at your house."

"Uh, thanks Patty, but I got it. I should be able to get him for the rest of the week."

She looked at her feet. "Oh, sure. Well, I'm just a phone call away." She then looked at Booth hopefully. 'Crap' thought Booth. He recognized the look that Patty had and knew he better set her straight.

"Patty," Booth started, "I appreciate the job you do with Parker..."

She cut him off "Oh, and I really love Parker!"

"I know you do. The thing is, well, my job is very demanding."

"I understand that the FBI keeps you very busy." she said glowing.

"Yes, well then you'll also understand that I do not have time for a relationship." He breathed. There, it's said. Now surely she'll get the point.

Her face fell and then she blushed fiercely. "Oh, Mr. Booth, I hope you didn't think that I, um, well that you and I, um," Patty stopped. She then stood up straighter and looked crossly at Booth "That I was interested in pursuing a relationship with you. Because that isn't the case."

"Great." said Booth, thinking that she took the news very well. "Well then, I'll see you around." The bell rang and children ran out the doors between Booth and Patty. Parker's eyes scanned the area and found his dad. He smiled wide and ran to his dad. Booth put his arm around his son and they walked to the truck together.

Patty watched him go and said under her breath "Pompous ass."


	7. Chapter 7: Where's the Money?

**Chapter Seven**

"Where's the money Michael?" the man shouted at James Shelton, formerly Michael Conn.

James pleaded "I don't have any of the money!"

Jenny sat in the corner holding Kiersten tightly. Jenny was shaking and Kiersten was whimpering.

"I know you got the picture I sent you. Did you show it to your pretty wife?" he sneered at James while he shook his gun at him. He nodded at Jenny. "Did you tell her who you really are? Does she know that your perfect little life is a lie!" By the end he was shouting hoarsely. He had shouted so much over the last few days he was starting to lose his voice.

James looked at Jenny, the woman that he loved, and at his beautiful baby girl. Jenny looked back at him as if he was diseased.

Nickolas broke into their garage and as the family loaded up the car to go to brunch on Sunday. He pointed his gun at the Sheltons and demanded they get in and drive. Nickolas had them drive out of town and out into the country. They drove for about three hours until they came to an abandoned country church on a gravel road.

Twelve years ago, when James was known as Mike and was involved in a drug ring in the city, he met Nickolas. Mike had wanted to protect Nick during the raid, but wasn't able too. He was put in the Witness Protection Program before he could have given Nick a heads up. Nick ended up going to jail for two years.

Nick was in the gang for money. His mother was mentally ill and couldn't make ends meet. While he was in prison, his mother and younger sister were kicked out of their apartment for not paying the rent. His sister became a prostitute and ran away, while his mother died homeless, under the fire escape of their old apartment building. She was wearing all the clothing she owned and the people walking down the alley thought that she was garbage. It wasn't her corpse began to smell that she was found. Nick blamed Mike for her disgraceful death.

Mike helped shuttle money for the gang. Nick had always suspected that Mike skimmed some from each delivery. Now, he wanted it and he wanted Mike to pay for what he had done to his fragile family.

Jenny didn't know her husband's true past. She was told he was an orphan and went through the foster system. He told her he was alone, working odd jobs until he landed the job for the contractor he worked for now. Now she looked at the sweet, gentle, protective man she loved and didn't know who he was.

James had a gut feeling that Nick wouldn't actually shoot them. However, twelve years could really change a person. Nick had called James two weeks ago to say "I've found you Mike. I want the money." The calls kept coming demanding the money. In his last call, he said "I wanted to play nice Mike. But you are going to force me to get physical." The photograph showed up in the mail the next day. He hid it from Jenny in the manual of the new printer, knowing that she wouldn't look there.

"Excuse me, Dr. Brennan?" Hodgins was at her door.

"Yes?"

"I examined the grass in the photo. I noticed small indentations in the grass. The depth and pattern of these indentations are the same as youths' cleats. I think we are looking for a either a soccer or baseball field. As for the soil, there were a few small clumps around the body. They appeared to be mostly clay with some organic matter. It's a common soil type. It's the same type of soil that you would find south of the city in the rural areas."

"Thank you Hodgins."

He turned to go out of the room and almost bumped into Clark. Hodgins stepped to the side as Clark stepped to the same side. At the same time, they both took a side step the other way. They stopped. Hodgins smiled wryly while Clark scowled at him. "Excuse me, I need to speak with Dr. Brennan." Hodgins took a half step back, waved his hand towards the room and said "Be my guest." Clark looked ready to smack Hodgins as walked away chuckling.

"Dr. Brennan?"

Bones had seen the interaction and covered her own smile as she said "Come in Mr. Clark"

"There's an abandoned church with a small family cemetery on it's property in Horst County, south of here. A grounds keeper for the soccer field behind it noticed that the dirt on one of the graves had been dug up. The grave belonged to the last person buried there - a local woman who had a heart attack 28 years ago. I did a search and she didn't have any family connections to Michael Conn."

Bones picked up her phone to call Booth.

"What have you got Bones?" She filled him in with what she had just learned. There was always a thrill run through her when they had a breakthrough on the case. She imagined she could feel the same thrill running through Booth on the other end of the phone.

"Great Bones. An abandoned church, huh? I'm going to call a team to follow us there. Do you think you can meet me outside in about 10 minutes?"


	8. Chapter 8: The Escape

**AN: thanks for the positive feed back and for adding this story to your reminders! Just a short chapter today but more will come. I promise!**

The baby hadn't stopped crying. It was driving Nickolas crazy. He was beginning to wonder how great this plan really was. He had honestly thought that Mike would have told him where the money was, since his wife and daughter were in danger. Nick had never shot a gun in his life. Although, he was still bitter and blamed Mike for his mother's death, Nick wasn't sure he could go through with it.

"Do you think Mom would want you to chicken out now?" the voice hissed in his cell phone. Nick had made the phone call, explaining his fears to his sister on the other end.

"But the wife and kid had nothing to do with it," he tried to keep his voice from sounding like whining.

"You're fucking pathetic you know that? You've complained for the last 12 years about how Mike got away with the money and that he's the reason Mom died. And now, you finally have a chance to do something about it, and you're too chicken shit!"

Nickolas sighed, shoulders coming even lower as his sister blasted him.

"I gotta go." he said.

"Don't fuck up." his sister warned and hung up the phone.

Nick turned back to the small sanctuary to see Mike and his wife and child huddled in the corner. The pews and all other furnishing had been removed from the church years before. It made the room seem large and cold. Jenny had Kiersten settled but they were now out of the formula and diapers that were in the diaper bag they had intended to take with them shopping on Saturday morning. 'No matter what he did to me, I will not have a baby involved with this.' Nick waved his gun at the family and said gruffly "C'mon we're going for a ride."

The baby started to cry again as she was being buckled in the car seat. Jenny couldn't look at her husband's face. She knew this was it. He was driving them somewhere more remote to kill them. She felt cold and hollow and knew she had to do whatever it took to save Kiersten. The man, Nick, James had called him, had Jenny sit in the back beside the baby seat. James, or Mike, or whatever his name was, was made to sit in the front.

As the car was put into gear, Nick started rambling about spending time in jail. He kept bringing up names, she assumed from their shared past, and telling James what had happened to them. Jenny vaguely noticed that almost every name he brought up, had a story about being shot and killed attached to it. She wasn't paying attention as she was busy planning. As Nick was talking, she had carefully unlocked her door. For the first time since the baby was born, she was glad they didn't spend the money to have the 'convenience' of power locks on their small used car. She smiled ironically then. They didn't have money to make ends meet and yet this moron seemed to think they had a small fortune stashed away. Jenny had only pretended to strap Kiersten in. She watched the landscape and saw a cluster of houses further down on the gravel road they just passed. She leaned over the car seat to fidget with Kiersten's blankets and then prayed. 'Five, four, three, two, one!' she counted in her head. At 'one', she grabbed Kiersten tightly, opened her door and rolled out onto the gravel.

The impact was harder than she expected. She could feel the small pieces of gravel dig into her shoulder and back, some of them removing skin. Her hand that was covering Kiersten's head was marked up badly and some of the small gravel was sticking in it. Once she stopped rolling, she only took a second to catch her breath and saw the small car's brake lights brightly. She got up and ran for her and her daughter's life towards the houses. They were easily a mile away. Looking over her shoulder, she had expected to see the white reverse lights coming closer to her. But no. Nick got out of the car, looked at her, closed the back door and drove off. For a fleeting moment she thought that he mouthed "I'm sorry." to her.

"They were here. There's diapers in a pail in the corner. Also, wrappers from meal replacement bars." The officer said to Booth. The officer's phone rang and he excused himself to answer it. He nodded. For some reason, Booth knew that they weren't going to be there. When the officer returned, he smiled and said, "You're not going to believe this, but the wife and kid are at a farm house on the next concession." Booth wanted to smile, but knew it was too early for that.

Bones was more upset than she expected at not finding the family. She walked out to the small grave yard to look at the grave that had obviously been tampered with. She kneeled down and started carefully removing the rough sod that had been stamped onto the dirt. The bones would tell her something, they always did.


	9. Chapter 9: The Grave

Kiersten's over-full diaper had been taken off and she was now sitting contentedly on a bath towel on the floor, eating a cookie. Jenny had a blanket over her and was enjoying a cup of the best coffee she had ever had. Holding the mug, breathing in it's heat, made the events of the last few days so surreal. The agent who came in was tall and had caring eyes. He was gentle but persistent with his questions.

Booth noticed her scratched up face and hand first, second the dark circles around her eyes. He thought she took a big risk rolling out of the car the way she did, but he admired her courage for doing it. She told him about the abduction and about being held captive in the church. He listened and wrote everything down that that hadn't already discovered in the church.

"Thank you Mrs. Shelton. I'll have a car take you home." Booth said as he turned to leave.

"Agent Booth?" she asked quietly. Booth turned and saw the pain etched on the woman's face. "Who is my husband?" Booth looked at her and thought she deserved the truth after what she had been through.

"Would you mind if I talked to Mrs. Shelton privately?" he asked the farm wife who had made a point of wiping her counters clean for the millionth time. "Oh, yes, of course. I'll be um, well, I'll just be in the back room with the washing machine." She smiled kindly and left the room. Booth grabbed a chair and sat in front of Mrs. Shelton.

"Your husband, Mrs. Shelton, used to be Mike Cliffton. Twelve years ago he entered the Witness Protection Program." She nodded solemnly and shifted the blanked tighter around herself. "He was part of a major drug ring. His information helped us break up that ring. In return, he was set up with a new identity."

He saw her throat move as she swallowed a couple of times. "Thank you Agent Booth."

He leaned forward, keeping his tone sincere. "Your husband messed up when he was younger. But, he tried to make it right. I imagine he didn't tell you because he wanted to keep you safe."

She laughed mirthlessly "Keep me safe! He, he..." her shoulders shook and tears slid quietly down her cheeks. After a minute, she sniffed and said "James, he loves Kiersten." She then whispered "He loves me too."

"Yes he does." Booth arranged a car for the female Sheltons, got in his truck and headed back to the church.

Booth didn't get out of the truck right away. He watched Bones' form pacing the excavation. She had pulled her hair up into a messy pony tail. Her legs were making long strides and her hands, if not on her hips, were pointing and gesturing. He watched as she pushed someone out of the way so she could squat down to pick up something they had missed. She examined the lump and tossed it to the side. She stayed squatting and Booth allowed himself a few seconds to enjoy the view. Jenny Shelton knew that her husband loved her. Booth wondered if the people who were most important to him, knew just how important to him they were.

She heard the truck pull into the gravel lane of the little church. When she saw Booth wasn't getting out, she started walking towards it. "Hey" she said as he rolled his window down. "Did you learn anything from the wife?"

"Yeah, the guy kidnapped them from their garage on Saturday morning. His name was Nick and he knew James from his drug ring days. Apparently Nick kept asking 'James-slash-Mike' where the money was."

"Did he tell him?"

"No. The wife says her husband kept denying he had any money."

"Was there any mention of money in the old case file that would have led Nick to believe Mike had it?"

"I don't remember seeing anything like that, but I'm going to look at them at home after Parker goes to bed. Perhaps I'll find Nick listed in there. For right now though, I gotta go get Parker. Do you want me to take you back to the lab or do want to catch a ride with the Forensics team and the body?"

Bones wanted to go with Booth, but shook her head and grimly said "I'm going to stay here to make sure they don't destroy anything."

"Glad I'm going then." Booth smiled at the glare Bones gave him. He started the truck and backed out of the gravel lane. He was still smiling when, with his window still open, he heard Bones yelling at someone.

They had found where the body had been set up for the picture, just over the page wire fence in the soccer field. One of the agents had discovered that soccer had finished two weeks earlier and that otherwise, no one was around who had seen anything unusual. They took molds of the footprints around the site. There were only two sets of prints, one smaller than the other. The shape of the heel print suggested a woman's shoe with a small square heel.

"Dr. Brennan!" called one of the men from the grave site.

Bones walked to the grave and looked into the hole. Whoever dug up the grave originally did not make a large enough hole. When they realized they could not get the lid of the simple pine box off, they used the shovel to break through it to get to the bones. Instead of taking time to place the bones back in their box, they had just thrown them and the broken pieces of wood into the hole and piled the dirt on top. There was also a crumpled piece of paper which Bones figured was probably the note that the skeleton was photographed with. Not wanting to destroy evidence herself, she started yelling. "I'm going to need gloves, a bucket, large and small evidence bags, more lights, a small brush,..." The crew around her scattered to grab what she needed. In a matter of seconds, everything she requested was surrounding her. She passed large items through the hole and bagged smaller ones herself.

It was midnight. before she was satisfied that everything that could be gleaned from the hole, had been. Bones stretched and smiled. She was happy with the large pile of evidence bags that had been placed in plastic totes to go back to the lab. Looking around at the crew, however, she realized that they were not as happy as she was, and were in fact, tired, hungry and cold. They watched her and as soon as she said "That's it, we can go." everyone practically ran to a vehicle before she could bark another order at them. Bones climbed into the passenger side of the truck that was heading to the Jeffersonian.

"So, Dr. Brennan," ventured the driver, "what do you think those bones and junk will tell you at the lab?"

She looked at the driver and stared at him, not saying anything.

"Oh, I guess, you won't know until you look at them there." he said embarrassedly. The drive back to the Jeffersonian was quiet.


End file.
